Radio host Doug Gottlieb hired to coach Green Bay men’s basketball

The University of Wisconsin Green Bay on Tuesday hired Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb as its new men’s basketball coach.

Gottlieb, 48, does not have any college head coaching experience, but he has long desired such a job, interviewing for the Oklahoma State vacancy in 2017 and nearly getting the Green Bay job last year. He was a star point guard at Notre Dame and Oklahoma State, twice leading Division I in assists, and went into broadcasting soon after his final college season of 1999-2000. He also has worked for ESPN and CBS as a radio host and studio and in-game analyst while also coaching at the AAU level and at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

“It is an honor beyond measure to be named the 10th Men’s Basketball coach in UWGB history. I would like to thank Chancellor Mike Alexander and Josh Moon for this incredible opportunity,” Gottlieb said in a statement. “Every kid has a dream growing up, some want to be firefighter, others want to be president, I have always wanted to be a head basketball coach at the Division I level.”

According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, Gottlieb took the job on condition that he still be allowed to host his syndicated daily Fox Sports Radio show.

The Phoenix went 18-14 last season under Sundance Wicks, a 15-win improvement over the previous season and its most victories since 2018-19. He won the Joe B. Hall Award, given annually to college basketball’s top rookie head coach, and was named Horizon League coach of the year. On Sunday, Wicks left Green Bay after just one season to take the head coaching job at Wyoming, where he previously had been an assistant.

Green Bay also must replace the Horizon League’s newcomer of the year (point guard Noah Reynolds) and the conference’s leading rebounder (forward Elijah Jones) from last season. Both already have transferred to other schools. Horizon League freshman of the year David Douglas Jr. entered the transfer portal on Monday night, after Wicks’s departure was announced, though he told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that a return to the Phoenix was possible.

Gottlieb’s father was head coach at Wisconsin Milwaukee from 1975 to 1980 before establishing deep roots at the AAU level, and the younger Gottlieb was born in Milwaukee.

A news conference to introduce Gottlieb as the new head coach is scheduled for Wednesday.